La, Boston Each Holler: Foul Play

June 4, 1985|By Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe

INGLEWOOD, CALIF. — K.C. Jones says the Los Angeles Lakers are playing dirty, Pat Riley says Kevin McHale has to push to win, McHale is making fun of Riley's hair, and everybody else is walking the beach looking for a face to kick sand in.

The Lakers' 136-111 victory in Game 3 pushed them to a 2-1 series lead.

Asked about the ''chippy'' stuff that punctuated Game 3, Jones said, ''That's not chippy, that's dirty. Larry Spriggs came at Quinn Buckner, who was trying to draw a foul, and started kicking. When Danny Ainge was on the floor with Kurt Rambis, I saw a Laker player kick at Danny's head. That's dirty basketball. Then I read Mitch Kupchak saying he'll throw more elbows if that's what it takes to win. I'd like to see the NBA pick up on that. Well, if you don't retaliate . . . you might as well go home.''

Jones said he could not identify which Laker allegedly tried to kick Ainge: ''I saw it on the film, but you couldn't tell who it was.''

Riley ripped McHale Sunday: ''He pushes everybody in the back. That's just what he does. He gets away with it. We can't allow that to happen.''

McHale's response: ''I'm not getting involved in a war of words with a man wearing Italian suits. There's 10 guys out there pushing on every play. Some of the guys he has out there are not there because of their gracefulness or running and shooting ability.

''Riley is trying to do his coaching in the papers again. He did it last year to get the refs to help him. He's working hard. Anybody's got to work hard to keep his hair in place that long.''

Riley wasn't asked about his coiffure, but his response to the ''dirty'' accusation was: ''If it's dirty play he's talking about, Wednesday night they won't have any problems, because they'll bring their clotheslines like last year.''

Los Angeles' new-found macho manner is considered significant because of the way the Lakers lost last year's series. They were badly outrebounded in the final games and stopped running after McHale's timely tackle. Again they have a 2-1 lead but have outrebounded Boston by 24 in the last two games and have pledged to fight back in this tournament.

''We are not going to stand around and get pushed all over the floor,'' Lakers forward Bob McAdoo said.

Round 4 is Wednesday night at the Forum at 9 p.m.

NOTES: Miami, which is planning to build an 18,000-seat arena, heads the list of possible expansion sites, the New York Times reported Monday. A plan to add several teams to the NBA is on the agenda for the league's summer meetings later this month, Comissioner David Stern said. Discussions also have been held with groups seeking to put teams in Minneapolis; Charlotte, N.C.; Toronto and Santa Ana, Calif. Also under consideration is a move to return a franchise to Kansas City, Mo., which has lost the Kings to Sacramento, Calif. . . . The Philadelphia 76ers will name Chuck Daly as coach within 10 days, the Detroit News reported. Sixers General Manager Pat Williams denied the report Monday night, saying he has had only ''preliminary discussions'' with Daly.